There is more to the history of the winged helmet than what was previously thought

Michigan State football wore white helmets for three games.

The Michigan State football team wore white leather winged helmets against Michigan in 1947, and white suspension helmets against Wisconsin and Purdue in 1954. Michigan State football lost all three games wearing the white helmets.

Michigan State football wore winged helmets four years before Michigan did.

Many know that at Princeton, Herb 'Fritz' Crisler added wings to the helmets in 1935 and Michigan in 1938. But four years earlier, Michigan State football Head Coach Charlie Bachman outfitted the Spartans with winged leather helmets in 1934.

John L Smith broke a 69-year tradition by removing the white stripe from the Michigan State football helmets.

John L Smith removed the white stripe on the helmet during his tenure as head coach, a major break with tradition that went back as far as 1933.

Michigan State football wore “State” on the jerseys for one year.

In 2002, Head Coach Bobbie Williams outfitted the Michigan State football team with a style that included the State Script Logo on the front. This replaced the words “Michigan State,” which had appeared on the Michigan State football jerseys for every season since 1964, with the exception of 2002. Following Bobbie Williams as head coach in 2003, John L Smith put “Michigan State” back on the front of the jerseys.

Duffy Daugherty added the words “Michigan State” to the jerseys and the Spartan logo to the helmets.

Legendary Head Coach Duffy Daugherty can be credited with two significant design elements that are found on the current Michigan State football jersey and Michigan State football helmet.

In 1964, Duffy added the words “Michigan State” to the front of the jerseys and the following season, in 1965, he added the Original Spartan Head Logo to the helmet.

Michigan State basketball won the 1999 Big Ten title wearing throwback Michigan Agricultural College jerseys.

Mateen Cleaves and the Michigan State basketball team clinched the outright Big Ten title on Feb. 21, 1999, wearing throwback jerseys from the Michigan Agricultural College (MAC) days.

MAC became Michigan State College in 1925 and, finally, Michigan State University in 1955.

It is likely this is the first time the MAC jerseys reappeared in 74 years.

Michigan State football's equipment manager invented the facemask attachment clips that are used on almost every helmet today.

In the early 1960's, Michigan State football equipment manager Ken Early invented the facemask attachment clips after finding many of the helmets needed to be replaced after heavy impact to the facemask area.

In 1963, Early sold the invention to Riddell for $500 and in 1964, Riddell started including them on their helmets.

A Michigan State football player taunted Notre Dame by writing on his helmet.

An unidentified Michigan State football player wrote "ND" over the Original Spartan Head Logo on his helmet during the "Game of the Century" in 1966. This taunting certainly wouldn't be allowed by the NCAA today.

Michigan State football first wore green pants in 1954.

Most fans identify the green pants that were once worn at away games with John L Smith's era. However, Duffy Daugherty introduced the green pants in 1954 for a home game when Michigan State played Marquette.

History of Michigan State Football & Michigan State Basketball Jerseys

As featured on ESPN.com, SI.com, Rivals, Yahoo Sports and UniWatch Blog, Spartan Jerseys is dedicated to the history of the jerseys worn by the Michigan State football and Michigan State basketball teams.

The Michigan State football section contains the complete history of the Michigan State football jersey and Michigan State football helmet. Beginning with the winged helmet, worn by Michigan State football players in 1934, and continuing to the present style designed by a two-year branding partnership with Nike.

The Michigan State basketball section contains the history of the Michigan State basketball jersey, beginning with the Reebok Michigan State basketball jerseys worn by Tom Izzo's national championship team, and ending with the Nike Michigan State basketball jerseys, worn by the current Michigan State basketball team.

I hope that this site brings back the memories of the storied tradition of both Michigan State football and Michigan State basketball.

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